The law is the law. Those five words are a mere identity, as to say one equals one. It seems a meaningless redundancy, an idle comment on reality, tossed off-handedly by a casual observer, having little relevance to contemporary affairs. But these words were said by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, in the context of anticipating a breach of existing contract.
The Prime Minister is taken to be familiar with the law he refers to, and it is widely observed that in Malaysia a peculiarity exists, in that there is a Constitution, ostensibly the highest law in the land. And then there is the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is a law unto himself. Thus when he says, "The law is the law", it is taken to mean that his interpretation of existing law is unilaterally under review. In this case, the law is not the law.
Anticipatory announcements of impending breaches of contract are relatively rare. This is because it gives rise to a duty in the other party to minimise damages which may reasonably be expected to occur as a result of the breach. Here the Prime Minister is unwise.
The Prime Minister announces an impending change in a royalty agreement with one of three oil producing states. There has been a change in the political party controlling the state, and thus the Prime Minister is seen as acting (again) in political retribution for the loss, attributed by his party to his own unpopular statements (along with other activities he protects and sanctions).
Before making the announcement, the Prime Minister did not seek the agreement of his Cabinet, nor the Supreme Council of his party. He just stepped from a plane, and it appears that he came to his decision while at an altitude. This is the modern equivalent of making law from horseback. With his feet on the ground he made his decision known, and now the consequences of that decision are being played out throughout the country.
Many see his remark as further abrogation of constitutional freedoms, supported by complaisant judges more interested in holidays than retirement. But the fact is he controls the law. This is the law he refers to when he says, "The law is the law."
Translated into Mahathirese it means, "I am the law." Malaysia thus has a problem maintaining its dignity and status in the Commonwealth. This is because the law in the Commonwealth is the constitutional law, not the Prime Minister's law.
There are consequences of the Prime Minister's decision which he cannot foresee, and which raise serious questions for his party and Malaysians at large. The contract at issue touches on the distribution of the oil resources of the country.
The Prime Minister makes frequent speeches extolling the largesse with which these riches are distributed to the populace. The people of Malaysia have a GDP of under US$5,000 per capita, which compares poorly with Canada and Australia, two Commonwealth countries of similar population. Canada and Australia both have per capita GDP of over US$20,000. The people of Malaysia are poor, other than a thin crust of the excessively wealthy, and a relatively small middle class.
The government ministers enjoy lavish lifestyles, living in multi-million dollar palaces far exceeding any ability to purchase at official salaries. It is the protection of this system of political patronage that the Prime Minister calls into review. His announcement opens a new front in a national economic civil war. He purports to attack just a small state in the northeast corner of the country, but the party controlling this state is seen to have allies and supporters all over Malaysia.
It cannot be foreseen what the response to this opening salvo will be, either in his own party or in the country at large. He is seen as continuing a political battle with the opposition, but there are signs that it is a desperate measure to acquire new funds for the economic engine. If this is his motivation, it is short-sighted, for it will provide but a short respite from the serious cash flow problem which faces the government. It has arisen from excessive expenditures to support the weak economy.
Should he be successful in diverting the royalties which flow from the national oil company, Petronas, to the state of Terengganu, it will provide only US$213 million for further spending. In a multi-billion dollar economy this is not much.
But the political risk is high, and it may prove to be a costly source of funds. The battle with PAS has led to earlier misjudgements, with public confessions of error. The attempt to appear Islamic has been rebuked by police reports demanding the Prime Minister's arrest and prosecution.
If the Prime Minister, in his declaration of economic war, arouses sufficient resentment to provoke consumer reaction, his simple comment, "the law is the law", may finally usher him out.
The url of this page is https://harunrmy0.tripod.com/18LawNot.html